


Two sides of the same coin

by Aragorn_II_Elessar



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Infinity Stone Soul World (Marvel), Introspection, Missing Scene, Soul Stone (Marvel), Spiritual, philosophical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 14:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20448344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aragorn_II_Elessar/pseuds/Aragorn_II_Elessar
Summary: Tony has a vision after snapping his fingers.





	Two sides of the same coin

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe or anything else you may recognize
> 
> Got this from a Quora answer by Sam McElhone so I'd like to thank him. I did make changes though.

Tony looked around and found himself in the Soul World. Last thing he remembered was snapping his fingers to stop Thanos. As he looked around, he saw 2018 Thanos, battered and burned, with the gauntlet fused to his hand, minus the stones. He sat on a bench, looking into the distance. Tony staggered over and sat next to him.

"My destiny has been fulfilled. I fought to the bitter end for balance in the universe, I succeeded, and realize now that the true balance is not between life and death, but between good and evil."

Tony was silent. He flexed his left hand and slid the soul stone off of it. He handed it to Thanos.

Thanos looked into the distance, "I was the only one who foresaw you being the one to make this play. Friends and enemies alike saw you as the king, but you sacrificed yourself like a queen, to allow the game to end. And here we are, warriors for our causes, dying noble deaths."

The stone glowed in his hand.

Tony smiled and stood up, "This isn't the damn Super Bowl. We don't get to move on. You caused deaths that will never be recovered."

Thanos looked at Tony reverently.

"But your death is as a legendary hero. Mine a legendary villain. You view me as wrong, while I view you as obstacles in the way of balance and prosperity. Good and evil are perspectives, Stark. But a man who dies for what he believes in is the greatest hero of all, in success or failure."

He slid the stone back onto Tony's hand. It glowed again as a tear left Thanos's eye.

"I'm sorry for the pain I have caused. I simply fought to prevent what happened to my planet from happening to you. You have my utmost respect. They will remember us, you can count on that."

Tony realized with the aid of the Soul Stone that Thanos truly felt remorse. He looked him in the eye. The nano-gauntlet increased in size to match Thanos's hand size, and Tony extended it.

Thanos shook his hand, "The universe owes you a great debt, Stark."

The time stone started glowing as Thanos covered it with his thumb, "Tony Stark may be gone, but Iron Man cannot die."

And then there was a flash as Tony exited the Soul World.

**Author's Note:**

> And done. Now this doesn't mean I approve of anything Thanos does. Because he was still a madman who believed he was doing the right thing. That is a like a suicide bomber who is trained to believe he is doing the right thing.
> 
> But I still believe that under different circumstances, Thanos could have turned out to be a good guy and I'd say 2018 Thanos has the potential for empathy and even regret considering his behavior.
> 
> Plus, even comics Thanos was introspective of himself after the Infinity Gauntlet storyline and he is infinitely worse than MCU Thanos. Like you can't even imagine.
> 
> So while MCU Thanos is a total nutjob, I'd say the 2018 version of him still has the potential to introspect himself sometime. After death in this case. But 2014 Thanos is a total warlord and he deserves to die totally. 2018 Thanos too but less than the 2014 version as he is capable of being introspective. And the Soul Stone would allow him to feel regret IMHO because that's what it does.
> 
> Again, I think I messed my thoughts up a bit but still hope everyone enjoyed and thanks to Sam McElhone again.
> 
> Hope this didn't come off the wrong way and if it did, I apologize.


End file.
